In general the vehicle is a bargain to purchase and the entire package is often overlooked by many car buyers. Perhaps the car is good from new up till 6 years of age, after which problems will start to appear.

Summary:

Faults:

DSG Mechatronic unit.

General Comments:

I wanted a performance sedan that was exciting to drive, could fit the kids, didn't look too lairy, and would not be too expensive to maintain.

I was considering a BMW E39 M5, Audi S4 or the VW R36. Although the R36 is the least powerful and slowest of the three, 300hp and 0-100km in 5.6 seconds is still respectable. I went for the R36 as I use the car for work, and drive it everyday.

I love driving the car, the raw power, acceleration and the exhaust note, wunderbar!

My only criticism is the ride is very firm, and you feel the bumps on rough roads.

When I first bought the car, I Was not happy with the way the DSG gearbox worked when the car was stationary with foot on the brake and then accelerated away. I took it to the dealer, and they tried reprogramming the mechatronic unit, which did not work. They replaced it 2 weeks later; lucky it was covered by new car warranty. The dealer was quite good to deal with.

Summary:

Best business car with semi automatic built-in chauffeur (ACC)

Faults:

Very good build quality, so there's not much going wrong.

The only problem was that 1 week after the first maintenance-visit to the dealer, a light came up from the catalyser-system. I went back and they found a fault in a pressure-sensor in the exhaust. This was replaced under guarantee.

The car is extremely reliable and has very long maintenance intervals (30.000 km's). It doesn't use oil, it doesn't eat bulbs, it doesn't eat fuel, and is very economic with an average of 1 liter per 18,5 km's.

General Comments:

This is my company car, and is extremely fit for the task of bringing me to work and customers, in a very economical and comfortable way.

The DSG 6-speed automatic-gearbox is a terrific invention, and works flawlessly and very fast, although I never use the Sport-mode or the flappers on the steering wheel.

The best option is the Adaptive Cruise Control; this system is radar driven and keeps a safe distance to the car in front of you (in any weather) and can brake the car is a sudden stop is needed. It has saved me 1 sure collision by stopping the car when I was distracted and only saw the truck in front of me to late. At that time, the system braked the car in time.

I use this ACC every day, even in the very busy dutch traffic it drives for me for about 70% of the time. I can't live without it any more - for business driving.

The big fuel tank gives the car a big range of 1100 to 1200 km's, the engine is very quiet, seats are fine, stereo is perfect and lots of space (Variant) when needed.

So, the Passat is not pretentious, but there are only a few cars that have a built-in chauffeur driving them most of the way. The engine has a lot of power, and combined with the DSG makes the car very fast. I only use it while accelerating, which is fun, and then it goes on ACC at 130 km/h to prevent me getting tickets and drives the rest of the way while I do phonecalls etc.

BTW, you still have to do the steering yourself, but on the highways that's little work.